Sporting News continues its ranking of top 10 college basketball champions from the expanded bracket era:

No. 9 1994 Arkansas

The Razorbacks didn’t win the championship in 1994 because their roster was thick with super-talented players destined to earn millions in the NBA. They won because their team was thick with super-hungry players who excelled in coach Nolan Richardson’s system.

The team was known for its intense defensive pressure — so intense it carried the moniker “40 Minutes of Hell.” The bench was deep with players who would come in and harass opponents into mistake after mistake.

To put opponents through 40 minutes of hell, Richardson needed players who could press and excel in the open court. He found plenty of them. Mostly, they weren’t blue-chip recruits — power forward Corliss Williamson was the lone first-round pick in the NBA Draft on the championship squad — but what they lacked in pure talent, they made up for with mean determination.

Guards Corey Beck and Clint McDaniel were defensive aces, sharp-shooting wing Scotty Thurman hit big shots — including the winner in the title game — and center Dwight Stewart created matchup problems with his long-range shooting. Together, they rolled through the '94 NCAA Tournament, winning each of their first five games by at least eight points before scratching out a 76-72 win over Duke in the final.

The go-to guy

Williamson. Says Mike Anderson, then an assistant and now the Arkansas head coach: “When you threw it to him, you knew you were going to get a bucket or get some free throws. He was a great passer out of the post. Although he was listed at 6-7, he played to the height of a guy who was 6-9 or 6-10. He was a tremendous low-post player, a guy who could face up. He got better in terms of facing up and knocking down the 15-foot shots. (If) you came out to guard him, he was so nifty and good with the basketball, he’d go around (you). He just knew how to use his body, a la Larry Johnson. He was the guy that, when we needed a bucket, if we put it in Corliss’ hands and spread our shooters out, something good was going to happen.”

The defining number

62.6 — Williamson’s shooting percentage from the field that season. He also made 70.0 percent of his free throws and averaged 20.4 points per game. He scored at least 20 points in all but one game in the tournament and was named the Final Four’s most outstanding player.

The legacy

One more win, and the Arkansas teams of the mid-1990s would be talked about among the all-time greats. One more win, and we’d all remember Richardson a different way. In a stretch that began with the 1989-90 season, Arkansas advanced to at least the Sweet 16 in six of seven years, including three trips to the Final Four. After beating Duke in its first national title game in '94, Arkansas returned to the championship game in '95 but lost to UCLA, 89-78. Had Arkansas won that game, we’d be talking about a Hogs dynasty.

The tourney run

Oklahoma City (March 20) — Thurman was thrown out of the game because of a fight in the first half, but the Hogs went inside to Williamson (21 points) and Stewart (16) to win.

Midwest Region semifinals (1) Arkansas 103, (12) Tulsa 84

Dallas (March 25) — Arkansas shot 66.1 percent from the field and won going away against the school that gave Nolan Richardson his first D-I coaching job.

Midwest Region final (1) Arkansas 76, (3) Michigan 68

Dallas (March 27) — Thanks to Thurman’s 20 points, the Hogs beat Michigan in front of Arkansas-born President Bill Clinton and family — who would show up for the Hogs’ two games at the Final Four, as well. National semifinals (1) Arkansas 91, (2) Arizona 82

Charlotte (April 4) — The biggest win in school history was made possible by the biggest shot. Duke had led by as many as 10 in the second half, but Arkansas fought back and with less than a minute left, the score was tied at 70. Beck passed to Stewart at the top of the key. But he bobbled the pass, which allowed the defense to collapse on him. He moved the ball to Thurman, who made a long-range 3-pointer as the shot clock expired.